Moonrise
by Tinuviel Evenstar
Summary: After 800 odd years, Baldwin IV is a vampire living in NYC. When he saves a young dancer from a rebel vampire's attack, both of them are thrown into a massive civil war amongst the vampire clans. AUish
1. Blood Song

Author's Note: I got the idea for this after watching "Blood Ties" and "Kingdom of Heaven" back to back. Hey, if Tanya Huff can turn Henry Fitzroy into a vampire, then I can certainly turn Baldwin into a vampire.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own "Kingdom of Heaven".

_Blood Song_

The sound of the blood rushing through the humans' veins nearly drove Baldwin to distraction. The hunger was gnawing at him, but the vampire reigned in his darker side as the sounds of drumbeats filled the air.

A young woman came out from a makeshift backstage, a silk blue veil artfully framing her figure. Carefully, she delicately stepped out from the fabric, always in time with the music. Her costume shimmered in the lights as she lithely made her way around the room. The dancer moved with a feline grace as her muscles popped and locked.

By a chance, blue met green and a jolt of electricity shot through Baldwin.

_ 'She has the Sight.' _The vampire tried to concentrate on breathing evenly through the dim roaring in his ears. The song of her life was a siren's call to the vampire.

Glossy auburn waves bounced as she undulated and twisted sinuously to the beat, eyes still locked on Baldwin. With her mischievous expression, the hunter wondered through the haze if she was purposely flirting with death.

It took all of Baldwin's hard-won self control to fight back the Hunger and calmly leave the restaurant. Once outside, he leaned against the cool brick wall and pushed his long hair out of his face.

_ ' I need to feed.'_

Baldwin noticed two giggling twenty somethings about to enter the restaurant. The vampire violently ripped aside his mask and let the Hunger take over.

"Hello, ladies."

Baldwin was so deeply absorbed in feeding that he didn't notice another of his kind quietly enter his favorite hunting grounds.

Time slowed to a halt as he quenched his thirst, trying to erase the siren's call of the dancer's blood from his mind. Hundreds of years of perfecting his self-control would not be put aside by that tempting girl, no matter how good she smelled.

Lifting his head, Baldwin gently stroked the face of one of the girls. Both were in a sort of sleepy trance, due to the combination of the vampiric powers of persuasion and blood loss.

"You **will not** remember this, and you **will** go straight home. **Both** of you." Blue eyes flared unnaturally in the dim light behind the restaurant. The two young women nodded, still in a daze and stumbled off.

_ 'It should be safe to go back in. Her blood shouldn't affect me, now that I've fed...'_ He didn't have time to finish the thought before he heard a piercing cry.

Two all too familiar scents hit the air, and Baldwin snarled as he ran towards the source of the scream.

Another vampire had the red haired dancer in his clutches and was quickly draining her. If he didn't intervene, she would die, and quite painfully as well.

Fangs bared, the blonde vampire crouched and leaped. The black-haired male looked up just in time to get a vicious backhand.

"Get away from her, rebel."

"Whose gonna make me? _You_?" The other scoffed.

Snarls filled the air as the two males circled, taking the measure of the other.

The other vampire charged, but Baldwin lightly stepped aside. Crouching, he sprang and knocked his opponent to the ground. Pushing him into the ground, Baldwin took a silver hunting knife and thrust it deeply into his chest.

Unholy screams rent the air as the blonde twisted his rival's neck until he heard a snap. With a fluid motion, the knife was out of the other vampire's chest and drawn across his neck.

There was a soft popping sound, and the other's body turned to dust. Quickly, Baldwin turned his attention to the young girl lying so still on the ground.

She moaned once before passing out as he gathered her in his arms and licked her wounds.

"Shhh, shhh! You're safe with me…but we should leave. I'm sure someone will have heard the commotion and will come to investigate. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Baldwin soothed as he walked with her back to his car.

_ 'What have I gotten myself into?'_ He sighed as he drove back to his apartment. _'Meshkent, I wish you were here.'_


	2. Snake Charmer

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "Kingdom of Heaven".

Snake Charmer

The first thing that Aislinn Slane felt was warmth as awareness slowly came back. Her world was still dark, and she felt like she'd been through hell and back.

_ 'Nguargh' _She tried to stretch, but her body felt like it belonged to an old woman's, not a twenty four year old woman's.

"Shhhh, easy there now Miss."

That voice! It was musical and soothing, like velvet or honey. She wanted to see what kind of face could have such a beautiful voice.

With an effort, Aislinn wrenched her eyes opened and blinked. Once, twice, three times.

She was in an unfamiliar apartment with a stranger and panic set in. The young woman tried to sit up, but the speaker gently held her down.

"You're hurt, don't try to move so fast." Aislinn looked up to see a young man maybe a few years older then she herself. And he was drop dead gorgeous. Tall and lean, with shoulder-length blonde hair and ice-blue eyes.

Aislinn was momentarily struck dumb by his beauty. The panic grew stronger as her memories of the assult came flooding back to her and she realized she was trapped with some random stranger. Her muscles yelled in pain as she lurched unsteadily upright, trying to stand and defend herself. The handsome stranger blinked in surprise as she swatted his hand away and swayed on her feet.

"Keep away from me…or else!"

"Miss, you're hurt. Please sit down, I swear, I won't hurt you. Look." Baldwin gestured to the Motrin bottle, glass of water, and icepack he'd put on the coffee table. '

Green eyes narrowed suspiciously."W-what the hell happened to me? Was that guy on drugs or something? He had fucking fangs and he bit my wrists and shit! Was it some kinda cult thing?" She threw her questions at Baldwin, rapid-fire.

Baldwin inwardly sighed. For some reason, the vampiric powers don't work with those born with the Sight. He could either tell her the truth, or lie to her. But if he lied to her, she could still be in danger. The rebel clans would soon know that one of their own had been killed and would seek revenge on both Baldwin and this young girl. The truth had its own dangers, but Baldwin would be better equipped to protect her if she knew.

"No, no drugs or cult."

"You're shitting me. There's no natural explanation for why he had friggin' vampire fangs. And how would you know, anyway? Who the hell are _you_?"

"My apologies. My name is Baldwin Harrison, I'm a playwright. Currently the playwright for 'The Masked King.' "Baldwin's lips curved up in a crooked smile as he held out his hand.

"I'm Aislinn Slane, feature dancer for Café Fiagaro and currently trying to make it as an actress. Saw your show last month, thought it was great. My history buff friend was amazed at the detail you put into it." Aislinn shook it, still taking in his model-like features.

"Thank you…I try."

"But Mr. Harrison, you still didn't answer my question about the freak with the fangs or how you came to my aid so quickly." Her sharp eyes looked directly into Baldwin's own.

He sighed. _Moment of truth_. "You already answered it."

"Ummm, how? I just mentioned that he had like, vampire teeth…oh. Oh _no_. You're telling me that he was a friggin' _vampire_?" Aislinn started to laugh. She kept laughing for a few more minutes but stopped abruptly when she noticed he wasn't laughing.

"You're not seriously going to tell me that you believe in vampires."

"Why not? There are more things in heaven and Earth then dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio. And look at your wounds-what normal human could do that with only their bicuspids? " Baldwin hoped she wouldn't loose her mind when she realized that this was all true. That would be an utter disaster.

She snorted. "Alright Mr.Harrison. I'll play along. If he was some sort of mythical bloodsucking creature, then how could _you_ tell? Are you some kinda modern Van Helsing?"

Baldwin's eyes glowed and his fangs descended. "Not really. I'm more like...oh, more like Edward Cullen."


End file.
